Railway-signal



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

P. J. WIGKS.

RAILWAY SIGNAL. No. 350,790. Patented Oct. 12 1886.

S WITNESSES: INVENTOR -Jf S yw M BY Alum/g ATTORNEYS.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

P. J. WIOKS.

RAILWAY SIGNAL.

No. 350,790. Patented Oct. 12, 1886.

I r--r" a "1-- I WITNESSES 'INVENTOR w W 62 & BY dawn/w T ATTORNEYS.

N. PETERS. Phmmn n m. Washingwn. no.

PIERSON J. \VIGKS, OF GREEN POINT, NE\V YORK.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,790, dated October 12, 1886.

Application filed March 24, 1886. Serial No. 196,378. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, PIERSON J. Wrens, of Green Point, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Electric Signal for ltailwavBlock Systems, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide new and improved electric signals for railwayblock systems, which signals are sounded in the cabs of the locomotives.

The invention consists in the arrangement for sounding automatically a bell in the cab of a locomotive as soon as two or more trains are on adjoining sections or at a crossing, and in the arrangement by which an engineer in a locomotive can ascertain at any time whether the opposite section of crossing is free or occupied.

The invention also consists of various parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be fullydescribed hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan View showing my improvement. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of part of a string-piece provided with my conductors. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a string-piece on a crossing. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section of a railroad-track, showing my improvements. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the contact-wheel. Fig. 6 is an end view of the same.

Between the rails A A. of each track is placed and attached to the sleepers a stringpiece, B, of wood, compressed paper, or of any other suitable material, which is provided with two raised parts, B and B, of which the part B is covered on its upper edge with a conductor, a, and the part B has two conductors, b and c, on its top. These conductors a, b, and c are metallic strips insulated from the parts B and B of the string-piece B by any suitable insulating material. The stringpieces B are joined to form a section of any desired length. At the junctions of the several sections the conductors from one section are insulated from the corresponding conductors of the following section; but the conductor bot one section is connected by a metallic strip or conductor, (Z, with the conductor a of the following section. 0 is the main conductor, through which passes a current of electricity supplied from a central station by means of a dynamo-machine or a battery, \V. A resistance-coil, e, is placed in a recess formed in the ends of the adjoining sections, and connected with the adjoining conductor 0, opposite the connecting-piece d in each and every section. The resistance-coil c ofiersa greater resistance to the current of electricity than the electric alarm F in the cab L of the locomotive.

The contact-wheel O is provided with two metallic tires, 0 and O, which are insulated from each other, and of which the tire O is connected with the trunnions D by the metallic strip D, and the tire (I is similarly connected with the other trunnion. D, by similar strips D. The contact-wheel C is mounted in suitable bearings attached to the locomotive, and provided with springs which hold the wheel 0 in contact with the conductors a, b, and c of the string-piece B, whereby the contact-wheel is rotated. The tire O is in con neetion with the conductor a, and the tire C is in connection with the conductors b and c. From each trunnion D and D passes a wire, E and E, respectively, to the cab L of the locomotive, and connects with the electric alarm F, placed in the said cab in the usual manner. Instead of having one contact wheel 0 with separate tires, two independent wheels may be employed for the same purpose and with the same advantage.

At a railwaycrossing the conductor a is narrowed down to such an extent as to permit two additional conductors,fand g, to be placed on the top of the part B of the string-piece B, alongside of the conductor a, and running parallel with the same, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the conductors fand. g of one section connected with the respective conductors f and g of the crossingsection, while the conductor it remains the same as on the straight track. The conductors which do not connect with each other, but cross each other, are insulated from each other at their respective crossing-points.

A. switch-tower, G, is placed near the crossing H, and is provided with a number of switches, K, K, K and K, each of which connects two wires, J and J, leading to each ICC) section, and connected with the conductors b and 0, respectively.

The operation is as follows: It will be seen that the main conductor 0 is supplied with a continuous current of electricity from the bat tery W, or other source of supply in the central station, and the resistance-coil e is gaged to offer a greater resistance to the electric current than the alarm mechanism F in the cab of the locomotive, so that when two locomotives occupy adjacent sections the greater part of the current of electricity passes through the'al'arm F, instead of passing through the resistancecoil c. When the locomotive l is on the'section N, and locomotive 2 is on the following section, N, then a branch circuit is established between the two locomotives 1 and 2, which circuit offers a resistance somewhat less than the resistance of the coil 6 which is between the two locomotives, so as to cause the hell or alarm F in the locomotive 2 to ring, and thereby warn the engineer that the pre ceding section N is occupied. The above mentioned branch circuit is established by the current of electricity passing from the main conductor 0 to the locomotive 2 by means of the tire C of the contact-wheel G, to the metallic strip D, the trunnion D, the wire E, the alarm F, and then the current passes down the wire E to the tire (Jand to the conductors a, and from the same by the next metallic strip D to the conductor b of the section N, and back to the conductor 0 by the tire C of the contactwheel 0 of the locomotive 1 on the section N.

Thus it will be seen that the bell of the locomotive 2 rings, while the bell of the locomotive 1 is not disturbed on account of not being in the circuit when the train approaches from the rear, and the bell of the locomotive 2 con tinues ringing until the connection between the conductors b and c in section N is broken that is, when the locomotive 1 has left the section N in the direction of the arrow (0. When the four trains I, II, III, and IV arrive simultaneously at the last sections, P, P, P, and P respectively, before the crossing, as shown in Fig. 1, the alarm F in the cab L of each locomotive commences to ring as the connectionis established by the tire G of the contact-wheel O of each locomotive covering the three conductors a, f, and g, and the conductors f and g of section P connect with the conductors f and g of the sections P and P thereby causing the ringing of the alarms F of locomotives 2 and 3, and the conductors f and g of the sec tion P connecting with the conductors f and g of the sections P and P cause the bells of the four locomotives to ring simultaneously. The object of the conductors f and g is to prevent receding trains from affecting the alarms of trains approaching the crossing. If the train I is on section P and train II enters section P, then the bells of-both locomotives will ring, as a connection is established between the alarms F of both locomotives by the tires 0 of the contact-wheel O of both locomotives 1 and 2 covering the conductor f of the sections P and P, and both tires 0 covering, respectively, the conductors b and c of the sections P and P, so that a circuit is established in the same manner as above described in relation tothe locomotives 1 and 2 on sections N and N. Now, if train I has the right of way, it is so understood by the engineer in charge of locomotive 2, and he can signal to -the engineer of locomotivel toadvance by placing the switch M,connected with the alarm F,so as to break the circuit, whereby the bell of the locomotive 1 will cease to ring, which is the signal to the engineer of the train to pass over the crossing. As soon as the train Ihas left the crossing, the engineer of locomotive 2 returns the switchM to its normal position, and if the alarm F remains silent he can pass over the crossing in safety, as no locomotive is on any section connected with the crossing.

An approaching train may be signaled from the tower G on one of the four sections leading to the crossing, by turning the respective switch so as to connect its wires leading to the conductors I) and a. man wishing to signal train III, for instance, connects wires J and J, leading to the conductors I) and c of the section P, by the switch K, so as to establish a current between the con ductors b and c of the section P and the alarm F in train I.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In an electric signal for a block system for railways, a string-piece provided with three conductors, a, b, and c, for every block or section of the track, of which the conductor a connects with the conductor b at the end of every section, and of which the conductor a of one section is connected with the corresponding conductor a of the following section by a resistance-coil, substantially as shown and de scribed.

2. In an electric signal for a block system for railways, a string-piece provided with five conductors, a, b, c, f, and g, at every crossing of the railway, of which the conductorsf and g of one track connect with the corresponding conductors f and g of the crossing-track, sub-' stantially as shown and described. 5

3. In an electric signal for a block systemfor railways, the combination of a string-piece provided with three conductors, a, b, and c, for every block or section of the track, of which the conductor a is connected at the end of every section by the connection (1 with the conductor 1), and of which the conductor a at the end of every section is connected with the corresponding conductor a of the following section by a resistance-coil, 6, with a contact-wheel attached to the locomotive and provided with two tires insulated from each other, and an alarm in the eab of the locomotive electrically connected with the tiresof the said contact-wheel, substantially as shown'and described.

.4. In an electric signal for a block system for railways, the combination of a string-piece I By this means a switchprovided with three conductors, a, b, and c, for every block or section of track, of which the conductor a is connected at the end of every section with its corresponding conductor, 0, of the following section by a resistance-coil, c, with a contact-wheel attached to the locomotive and provided with two tires insulated from each other, an alarm in the cab of the locomotive electrically connected with the tires of the contact-wheel, and a switch between the electrical connections of the alarm and the contactwheel, substantially as shown and described.

5. In an electric signal for a block system for railways, the combination of a string-piece, B, provided with five conductors, a, b, c, f, and g, at every crossing of the railway,with a stringpiece, B, provided with three conductors, a, I),

and c, of which the conductor a is connected by the conductor (1 with the conductor 1) of the crossing, and the conductor a is connected with 20 the conductor 0 of the crossing by a resistancecoil, e, substantially as shown and described.

stringpiece being provided with the conductors a, b, and c, of which conductors b and 0 connect, respectively, with the said wires J 30 and J, substantially as described.

- PIERSON J. WIOKS.

Witnesses:

L. WV. EBELL, CHARLES J. HOWELL. 

